A study published in the December issue of the Journal of Dental Research describes for the first time the transcriptomic profiles in pathological gingival tissues in patients suffering from either Chronic or Aggressive Periodontitis, the two currently recognized principal forms of periodontal disease. Using a high throughput bioinformatics approach, the investigators identified molecular differences between the two diseases that may account for their distinct phenotypes.

The research, led by Dr. Panos N. Papapanou, Professor of Dental Medicine and Chair of the Section of the Oral and Diagnostic Sciences at CDM, was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Dental and Craniofacial Research. The first author, Dr. Moritz Kebschull is a former post-doctoral scientist in Dr. Papapanou’s laboratory, currently at the University of Bonn, Germany. Co-authors include CUMC faculty Drs. Guarnieri and Demmer, as well as collaborators at the Universities of Munich, Germany, and British Columbia, Canada.